Government U-turn on carcase splitting major disappointment for industry

A UK Government U‐turn on introducing a fixed date for lamb/hogget carcase splitting, has been described as major disappointment for the industry by the FUW.

Responding to the news, FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “This is a major disappointment and there is a real sense of anger given the decision to move to a fixed date was taken many months ago by the Minister.”

Mr Roberts added that as far as the industry was concerned the change had been signed off at a UK and EU level and would be implemented as soon as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was ready.

“The FSA have been severely obstructive and dragged their feet regarding the issue ‐effectively going against the Minister.

Especially if we consider that they previously objected to such a move on the grounds that a vet or inspector might not be able to distinguish between a hogget and an animal born two seasons ago,” he said.

The FUW asked how long it would take to put the necessary legislation in place if, for the sake of argument, Article 50 was withdrawn and were told that it would take a number of weeks.

“It seems unlikely that the June 30 deadline will be implemented this year, however, the FUW pushed for the legislation to be introduced as soon as possible, even if the benefits this year are negligible,” said Glyn Roberts.

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